A Response to the Challenge
by Anna Lisa Bradford
Summary: Tashigi has feelings for Smoker that he doesn't know about. What would happen if she ran away? A response to the Challenge sent by Navigator101
1. Tashigi's Troubles

Friday,

12-1-2006

1:17AM

Challenge:

A Smoker & Tashigi Story

Smoker's stare washed over his subordinates. Realizing that there was one missing, Smoker cursed under his breath. "Tashigi," he muttered, clenching his teeth slightly and glaring. Of all days to be late, it had to be today. Yes, today, the day of the base's inspection. A higher-ranking officer was coming this very afternoon to make sure that everything was as it should be. Oh. Hell.

Suddenly, a young, blue-haired woman came racing out of the building and onto the parade grounds. The Sergeant Major ran straight up to Captain Smoker, and, out of breath, she gasped, "I'm sorry I'm late, Captain."

"What's your excuse this time?" asked Smoker, clearly irritated. When she opened her mouth to speak, he interrupted, "Never mind. I don't even want to know." His voice took on a more agitated tone, "D you realize that the Admiral is coming today? He's come here to make sure that things are running smoothly. Do you know why that is?"

"..." Tashigi couldn't think of anything to say.

"It's because things have become a little ragged lately, Tashigi," Smoker continued, "and one of the problems is the punctuality of our troops." He stopped for a moment before he continued, "Sergeant, you are one of the higher officers in this outfit. The marine troops look up to you -"

"Captain, I can explain -" Tashigi tried to cut in.

He continued with a raised voice, "- as an example for them to follow. Even if you have a good track record as a marine, it is of no use if you cannot be a role model for them to follow. Understood?"

He looked down at Tashigi, waiting for a reply. After taking a long, dry swallow, Tashigi said in the clearest, most respective voice she could muster, "Yes, Sir!"

"Good," said an irritated Smoker, "Now go inside. There is still some paperwork that needs to be done, and I want it finished by the time the Admiral gets here. He'll arrive at 3 o'clock, so make sure that it's done by 2:30. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!" replied the Sergeant.

"You are dismissed."

Tashigi saluted him and left for the building. As she shut the door and walked up the stairs, her shoulders went into a slump, and she let the facade fall away from her appearance. She hated it when things like this happened. Unfortunately, they happened all the time. Which was why Tashigi didn't feel in high spirits most days.

_Why do it always have to be me?_ she thought, _Just because I'm a little late doesn't mean that ..._ She stopped there. This was the military, the Marines. There was no room for error here. If Captain Smoker thought he was right, then he was right. Never mind the fact that he, in some way, was human, too. Never mind that he was also capable of making mistakes. No. It was always Tashigi that took the fall when it all hit the fan. No one blamed Smoker. It was all her. After all, everyone needs a good scapegoat, right? She'd been working on paperwork all night, just so that today would be perfect. However, nobody seemed to realize that, much less appreciate it, and Tashigi was getting tired of it.

There was also another problem, one concerning matters of the heart. Every day, she did her best to catch his attention, to win his favor. And every day, she failed. No matter how hard she tried, she could never receive his appreciation. If she did something well, she got a begrudging complement, at most. For the most part, she received nothing at all, as if such a thing were common-place, when, in fact, she did more work than any of the subordinates on this base. Why couldn't he notice her just once? If he could openly complement her and appreciate her hard work just once, she might be content to leave things as they were. But Tashigi knew this wasn't so. Even if it were only once, no matter how many times such an event happened, it would never be enough for her. She was a damned good Marine, and she knew it, but he never seemed to notice. And that fact, alone, made her extremely depressed; lonely, most of all. She could disappear off the fact of the Blue Planet, and he wouldn't even care. Quietly, she walked back into the office to complete what little paperwork she had left. She'd tried to surprise him by getting most of it done last night. She'd stayed up at all hours trying to finish it. Now, however, she really didn't think it would matter to him.

As soon as the paperwork was done, Tashigi's head hit the desk, and she fell into a deep sleep. Hours went by, and Tashigi took no notice. She was tired, and needed rest. What she didn't realize was that it was already 3 o'clock, meaning, the Admiral was here.

The door opened, and still Tashigi slept. It wasn't until Smoker raised his voice that Tashigi woke up. She opened her eyes. The Admiral was standing right beside him with a look of disapproval in his eyes.

"Captain Smoker, is this how all of your subordinates act when you're not here?"

"No, Sir," he said calmly, "In fact, none of them do at all."

"So this is the first time this has happened?"

"No, but it will be the last," replied Captain Smoker, "Am I right, Tashigi?" She nodded, eyes wide open and scared. "Good."

"I've seen all I needed to see," said the Admiral approvingly to Smoker, "You've done an excellent job. I'll leave you to deal with the Sergeant."

"Thank you, Sir," said Captain Smoker, as he saluted the Admiral. The moment he walked out, the very moment the door shut, Smoker began yelling. "**I told you he was coming today! You knew that he was to arrive two days before he even showed up! What is the meaning of this?!**"

Tashigi couldn't take it anymore. She just snapped. Bowling the Captain over, she dashed down the stairs and down to the docks.

Once there, she jumped up on one of the smaller vessels, one that could be manned alone, untied the rope from the dock, and prepared to set sail. As soon as the winds picked up, she pushed it to it's highest speed, and, within minutes, she was out of sight. This was it. No more Smoker; no more Marines; she was on her own.


	2. Chapter 2

Friday,

12-1-2006

2:02AM

Challenge:

A Smoker & Tashigi Story

Chapter #2

Smoker went looking everywhere for her, and still could not find her. One of his troops ran up to him, out of breath, and said, "Sir! We couldn't find her, but one of the smaller vessels is gone from the dock! There's no trace of her, but the nearest set of islands is twelve hours from now."

"Get me one of the smaller vessels," said Captain Smoker in a calm voice.

"But, Sir!" the subordinate started.

"Now," he said more firmly.

"Yes, Sir!" said the marine, and he ran off to the docks.

_I guess I was a little too hard on her_, thought Smoker, _Tashigi, where have you gone?_

Not bothering to think about it much more than that, Smoker walked over in the direction of his prepared vessel and prepared to set sail.

Looking over to the marine, he said, "I'll be going alone this time. There's no need for you to be one this voyage."

"Sir?" asked the marine, puzzled.

"This is my mess and I intend to clean it up. However, it's something I'll have to do on my own."

"Yes, Sir!" said the marine, and he jumped back onto the dock. Smoker just nodded, and watched as the marine untied the boat from the docks. He stayed there, watching until his Captain sailed out of sight.

12 hours later, on a small island, just south of the docks, Tashigi had run her boat ashore. Taking just as much food as she needed, she went looking for shelter. To tell the truth, she just didn't want to be found. Especially by him. Definitely not by him, under any circumstance.

_All I do is screw up_, she thought, _What's the point in my even _being_ there if I only make mistakes?_ Unbidden, tears started running down her face. Walking up a little further up the trail, she found a cave amidst the forest, up against the wall of a mountain. Not bothering to check if it was even inhabited, she walked right in, set down her pack, and laid down with her head against it. If she was going to be miserable, she'd rather do it on her own. In private, she was more of a loner, and she didn't like for her troubles to be blasted out for the whole world to hear. Finally, when she realized that no one would be coming to search for her, she allowed herself to break down. Yesterday had not been her day, and today wasn't either. It was probably best that she quit the marines anyway.

Smoker looked out at the islands and saw a ship about as small as his tied to a near-by tree.

_This has to be it_, he thought, _It's quiet, it's uninhabited, and it's discreet._

Smoker thought back to Tashigi's days as a private. Whenever she became upset about something, whenever she had the time, she would find a quiet space to contemplate. Or so she said. Who knew what happened when she was alone? He didn't, but he was going to find out.

Walking the forest path, he found a small cave. Inside, he heard soft crying.

_Tashigi_, he thought. Somehow, something inside of him felt guilty; another,worried; yet another, sad. He'd chewed her out before, but he'd never seen her cry; not once. _'See' being the key word_, he thought, _This has probably happened more than once._ Quietly, he crept into the stone shelter, making sure that he wasn't heard.

That's when he saw her. There was Tashigi, curled up against her pack, crying. It wasn't loud. She didn't even wail. It was just audible enough for him to hear. Sitting down next to her, he said in a quiet yet stern voice, "Sergeant." She cringed and curled in even further on herself. "Sergeant Major Tashigi," he said in a somewhat official voice.

"Go away," he heard a small, angry voice broken up by tears.

"Sergeant -"

"Leave," she said in a firmer tone.

"Tashigi," he said in a softer tone, "There's obviously something wrong here. You need to tell me. A marine doesn't act this way."

"I don't care how a marine acts," she shot back, sitting up and turning to him, "You don't even care. Why should I bother with anything if it doesn't mean a damned thing to you?"

"You wanted it to mean something to me?" he looked slightly shocked.

"Ever since I saw you," she started, "I couldn't get you out of my head. I've tried, but nothing works, and you continuously ignore me. You don't even notice. I did most of that paper last night. That's why I fell asleep at my desk today. I only slept for one hour. That's it. One. I love you enough to try to get something right, and you don't even give a damn. Why should it matter now?"

Smoker was shocked, to say the least. He never suspected that she might actually have such feelings for him. Then again, he had feelings for her. He just never admitted it. To do so would be inappropriate. He was her superior officer. It wouldn't be wise of him to have an affair with one of his subordinates. If word got out ...

Suddenly, Smoker didn't care. Right now, he was not a captain. She was not a sergeant. They were two individuals on a deserted island, faced with a rather personal problem. A problem that he was going to settle with right then.

"Tashigi," he said in a soft voice.

"What?" she asked in an angry, miserable voice.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She shivered at the sudden contact and realized that she was cold. Smoker took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Looking up at him, she said in a voice that showed that she was trying to pull herself back together again, "Because I didn't think you'd care."

"What made you think that?" he asked. He allowed a silence, then said, "When something is wrong with one of my troops, I need to know about it. Otherwise I can't fix the problem."

"Love is not something you can fix," she snapped, "and I'm not one of your troops. Not, now, anyway."

"No," said Smoker, putting a hand to her cheek, "Right now, you are my Tashigi."

"Y-your?" she stuttered, tears starting to fall down her face again.

He nodded. She started sobbing and threw herself into his chest. Quietly, he wrapped her into his embrace, continuing, "I know that it doesn't seem fair that I haven't told you. However, for the most part, it is considered inappropriate for two people, such as you and I, two marines, no less, to have a relationship such as this one. There hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about you.

"Tashigi, I'm hard on you because I want you to work harder, to grow, and to become all you can be. All that harshness towards you wasn't for nothing. It was to make sure that you became a well-developed marine. I happen to know from reports that you have always strived to become a successful officer. And from what I see right now, you are. We're just in a tough spot right now."

She looked up at him, not knowing what to say. Then, she lay her head to his chest and cried softly, "I'm sorry I ran away. It was just -"

"Too much," he finished for her, "I know. I'm sorry."

"I love you," she said, "It's not fair."

"You know," he said, "this might work out. It would have to be kept during off-hours, not something to be seen on-duty."

"You mean?" she said in disbelief.

"Yes," he said, "you and I can be together. But I'm not going to go any easier on you. I won't cross the line again with you, but things haven't changed. Tashigi, I want to see you grow, and I'm proud to say that I see you grow better and better everyday. You just can't continue to be late for every meeting. You need to be there. It's very important for troops to see a quality marine at work. You are the one I depend on to set the standard."

"I ... am?" He nodded at her.

He held her closely, saying, "But right now, it's just you and me." She cuddled up against him, and he said softly, "Look at me."

Looking up, she asked, "Yes?"

"Close your eyes," he said in that same soft voice. Without question she obeyed. Taking her face into his hands, he kissed her lightly on the lips.

Her eyes shot open, "Captain?"

"It's Smoker," he said gently, "Close your eyes."

She closed them and reached her head up. Gently, their lips crashed together. They did not part until the two broke for air. Smoker stroked Tashigi's hair, took hold of the back of her head and held her closely to his chest. As they sat inside, warm and dry, the rain poured.

After about two days of being gone, two ships broke the emptiness of the south horizon. As soon as they came back to the dock, each of the higher officers were prepared to put the Sergeant Major in the brig. However, Smoker waved them off.

"Never mind it," he said, "I've already dealt with the situation. Tashigi, come with me."

"Yes, Sir," she replied, and spoke no further.

Once they were inside the building, Smoker lead her down a familiar hallway. Stopping at one of the doors, he unlocked it and opened it.

The room was quiet simple: a desk, a chair, a locker, and a bed.

"Your room?" she asked, slightly nervous.

"Yes," he said gently, "Step inside." Doing so, he walked in after her and shut the door.

"Captain?" she asked.

"It's off hours, Tashigi," he said, "Call me Smoker."

"Smoker," she said softly as he drew her into his arms.

Gently, he reached out to her. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed first her lips, then her neck, nibbling at the smooth flesh. She slowly threw her head back and just let him continue with what he was doing. Holding her to him, he whispered three words that were long-since over-due: "I love you." There was nothing to be said after that. Over all, it proved to be quite a satisfying night for both of them.

COMPLETE


End file.
